C&W Practice Groups | Workers' Compensation
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Workers' Compensation

Practice Group Overview


Successfully defending employers has long been the hallmark of C&W. Our workers compensation group has been our single largest growth area over the past ten years. C&W has steadfastly provided aggressive counseling and litigation support for employers and their insurance carriers who invariably face a wide range of oftentimes complex and potentially very expensive, workers compensation issues.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, employers experienced an alarming escalation of workers compensation related costs, in terms of both insurance premiums and business interruption. The State Legislature responded to industry’s frustrations with the passage of the 1993 amendments (Act 44) and the more pervasive 1996 amendments (Act 57) to the Workers Compensation Act. These provisions, which continue to be refined and redefined by the Courts, provide employers with tools designed to promote efficiency. They also redefined some of the basic concepts to create pressures to keep runaway claims at a minimum. Some of these new provisions include:

The creation of the Compromise & Release. For the first time, employers and workers were permitted to actually settle a workers compensation claim. The parties can now eliminate both the medical and the indemnity exposure, with or without admitting liability.

Offsets. Although case law had previously granted employers the right to take an offset for a claimant’s receipt of unemployment compensation benefits, the amendments codified and expanded the allowable offsets to include pension and/or Social Security payments.

Utilization Reviews were established to provide an administrative framework to allow employers to challenge the reasonableness and/or necessity of rendered medical care without retaining counsel and engaging in litigation.

Earnings Power Assessments. For the first time, employers were given the power to modify or eliminate a worker’s benefits without first having to establish a full recovery or actually providing the claimant with an offer of employment.

C&W prides itself on its ability to develop strong relationships with its clients by fostering close communication and continuing education. The result is that we offer effective and positive representation in spite of the generally hostile workers compensation environment. Although our lawyers are well qualified to handle the standard orthopedic injuries, we have considerable expertise and experience in defending stress induced cardiac injuries, post-traumatic stress disorders, occupational diseases such as asbestosis and silicosis (and their related cancers), hearing loss, and blood born disorders, to name several. Our focus over the years has been to not only aggressively defend against claims when they arise, but to educate and work with our clients in implementing the appropriate policies and procedures designed to minimize the development of the claim in the first place.

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